Navy Contract To Help Keep Checkrobot Afloat

The announcement last month of a $165,000 contract with the U.S. Navy couldn`t have come at a better time for Leonard Barbato, president of CheckRobot in Deerfield Beach.

In about a month, Barbato will be presiding at his second shareholders meeting since joining the company. At his first meeting, in December 1987, Barbato was swamped by shareholder complaints about the lack of sales and the decline in the stock price to $4 from a peak of $14.25. This time, Barbato can show proof of an honest-to-God order and relax knowing that the stock has climbed back to $6.

CheckRobot is just one of many high-technology companies in South Florida going through critical stages in 1989. Some have key product introductions under way. Some are hoping to recover from prolonged sales and profit slumps. Some have made drastic changes to streamline their organizations. Some, Siemens in particular, have newly acquired operations to digest, and at least one, Gould Computer Systems Division, has a new parent company.

Unless a general recession occurs, different fates will be in store for the makers of high-tech goods. IBM Corp. will sell a flurry of personal computer products related to its OS/2 operating system. Telecommunications companies Siemens and Mitel will take further survival measures in the very competitive PBX telephone market. Bendix/King Air Transport Avionics Division will lead the way in the $1 billion-plus market for aircraft collision-avoidance systems. The 1,100-employee Gould operation remains a strong acquisition target in the merger-minded minicomputer industry.

Although the U.S. electronics industry has benefited from high order levels and the weak dollar, it hasn`t forgotten the lessons of the 1985-86 recession. Thus, companies have kept work force levels in line with conservative order estimates and maintained lower inventories while speeding up new product introductions.

Dataquest, a research firm in San Jose, Calif., predicts a slowdown in capital spending by U.S. companies in 1989, ending the year in a fourth- quarter decline. Dataquest expects no slowdown in federal spending for computers, peripherals and telecommunications equipment in civilian applications, but the outlook for the military electronics budget is poor..

Looking at sectors and companies individually:

-- By April, IBM will have eliminated 1,600 jobs in Boca Raton by moving its personal computer assembly lines from Boca Raton to Raleigh, N.C. However, most of the engineers and programmers remain, and Site General Manager Dick Daubenmire anticipates ``moderate growth`` in plant employment after the manufacturing consolidation is complete in May. Analysts predict slight increases in overall PC and software sales in 1989.

-- Siemens, a minor player in the U.S. PBX market, raised its ante in December by proposing to buy the Rolm telecommunications unit from IBM for an estimated $1 billion. The merger would put Siemens ahead of AT&T in installation of new telephone lines, according to 1988 figures compiled by Northern Business Information/Datapro. However, the PBX industry has been a buyer`s market since 1985.

-- Modular Computer Systems is back in the limelight after holing up in the laboratory for two years. Modcomp, a subsidiary of AEG the large West German electrical equipment company, introduced its new superminicomputer to 200 customer representatives in November. A month later, Modcomp agreed to write software for Sun Microsystems, a leading producer of engineering workstations, and to market Sun and Modcomp computers as a package.

-- Motorola`s Paging Division reached a record employment level of 1,750 last October and, anticipating further sales growth, announced that it would be expanding its engineering and manufacturing plant in Boynton Beach by more than 25 percent in 1989.

-- Expecting declining orders, Seagate Technology has begun cutting the work force at its disc drive repair plant in Delray Beach. The plant, which employed about 500 workers at the end of 1988, should be down to 400 workers by midyear, mostly by releasing a large number of contract employees.

-- Sensormatic Electronics Corp. Chairman Ronald Assaf predicted at his company`s annual shareholders` meeting in November that 1989 sales will be up about 33 percent to $160 million. Already the world`s leading supplier of electronic anti-shoplifting systems, the company is making strong inroads among unprotected hard goods retailers.

-- PRODUCTS: Bendix/King Air Transport Division in Fort Lauderdale has begun production of the world`s first on-board, aircraft collision-avoidance systems, a $1 billion-plus market created by federal mandate. Modular Computer Systems, Fort Lauderdale, is trying to rebound with a new line of superminicomputers.

-- EMPLOYMENT: More companies will be hiring in 1989, including Bendix/King, Motorola, Modcomp and possibly IBM. On the other hand, some companies that already have reduced their work forces in 1989 are Harris Computer Systems Division, Seagate Technology and Racal-Milgo.